The Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation filed an Unfair Labor Practice complaint against the University of Oregon on Feb. 24 for the suppression of union activity and exercise of free speech at a rally held by the Campus Labor Council on Oct. 3, 2024.

The rally in October had been held in opposition to “extraordinary safety measures” regarding surveillance measures used by the university.

According to the press release, GTFF believes the university has violated the Oregon Public Employees Collective Bargaining Act by invoking the Student Code of Conduct and “targeting” graduate employees who were participating in protected labor action at the rally.

The CLC is composed of the four main unions at UO, including: GTFF, United Academics, UO Student Workers and Service Employees International Union 503.

At the rally, elected representatives of the unions used a bullhorn to speak. According to the press release, two months after the rally, GTFF President Presence O’Neal and Vice President for Organizing Matthew Tuten received a notice from the UO Office of the Dean of Students; they were being investigated for code of conduct violations because of the use of the bullhorn.

According to the press release, a representative from UOSW received a similar notice. Representatives who spoke from UAUO and SEIU did not receive notices.

The unfair labor complaint has outlined four violations of PECBA by the university:

• By initiating student code of conduct violation action against O’Neal and Tuten, the university has “restrained” or “coerced” O’Neal and Tuten because of the exercise of their PECBA-protected rights.
• By initiating disciplinary action against union leaders, which could impact their future job security or conditions of employment, there is a “reasonably likely” effect that future engagement in union activities will be discouraged.
• By using code of conduct proceeding to “curtail” union activity, the university is attempting to “run around the ‘just cause’ protections in the GTFF contract.”
• The university used public funds in a manner that “assists, promotes or deters” union activity.

The press release states that they have used bullhorns on “dozens of previous occasions, for years” without facing student conduct charges.

According to UO Spokesperson Eric Howald, the university has received the complaint and it is currently under review.

“The university supports students’ and employees’ rights to free speech,” Howald said. “Our policies are in place to control the sound volume, not the content of political speech.”

According to Oregon law, once a complaint is filed, a copy of the complaint will be served to the employer engaging in unfair labor practices and then will be investigated by the Employment Relations Board to determine if the charge is warranted.

Presence O’Neal, president of GTFF, said that the union’s main message by filing this complaint is to protect all unionized workers’ rights on campus.

“We’re protecting our members and trying to ensure that all unionized workers on campus are disciplined legally through PECBA and not because the university decided to use the code of conduct instead,” O’Neal said. “Their status as students shouldn’t be used as a backdoor to discipline them.”

According to O’Neal, the Employee Relations Board will investigate the claim and review evidence and testimonies by both GTFF and UO. If the ERB finds that UO violated state labor laws, ERB can order remedies. Remedies can include monetary remedies or reinstatement offers.

UPDATE: 

This version has been updated to include comment from Presence O’Neal, president of GTFF. 

This is a developing story.